Hidden Spoils

Looking over at what was once Zi Bai, Hong Zhao was in shock. Though he was the one to strike the final blow, he didn't see how such a strong enemy could have been done in. His wide eyes went from the pieces piled on the ground to Shadow.

Now that he was no longer fighting for his life, he was able to get a better look at his friend. The hardness in Shadow's expression that he had during the fight had been replaced with laziness. He was the same size as Hong Zhao, yet his body was covered in lean muscles. The round black ears that Hong Zhao had scratched when Shadow was just a cub were still there, yet in his new form, he couldn't exactly imagine the young panther on his shoulders moving through Rantori Village.

"Shadow?" Hong Zhao almost whispered a call to the half-panther. He saw the round black ears twitch in acknowledgement and he saw the slightly glowing green eyes lazily look over to him. "Is that really you?"

"Y-yes." The boy tested out his own voice for what seemed like the first time. If Hong Zhao's eyes could get wider, they most likely would have. "Yes, Master." The boy said finally, his voice sounding almost like a low purr.

"How is this," Hong Zhao waved his hand at him, still barely registering that this was indeed his cub. "How is this possible?"

"Lots of hunting." Shadow smiled as his ears seemed to stand up straighter. "You showed me, thank you master." He sat on the platform that only minutes before, Zi Bai sat on and began to lick his hand which was scratched slightly. Hong Zhao could see crimson leaking from Shadow in many different places. Even though he was too fast for Zi Bai, the cuts must have been from the rock blowing from every Qi Blast.

Hong Zhao took out a Health Recovery Pill out of his storage ring and brought it to Shadow. "Try this." He popped the pill into his friend's mouth. He didn't know what kind of effect the pill would have on magical beasts, yet he wasn't willing to see his friend in pain any longer.

Shadow swallowed the pill and within moments, the cuts and gashes healed in a visible rate. Little wisps of smoke appeared on each cut as the flesh seemed to sew itself together once more. He licked his hand once more for good measure as he watched the last cut close. He looked more amused than he did surprised, which put Hong Zhao's nerves at ease. Shadow's green eyes looked up from his hand and held his master's gaze. "Thank you." He didn't lower his head, instead his eyes seemed to bore into Hong Zhao's.

"So, about this master thing." Hong Zhao scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I never let my friends call me such a thing. Now that you can speak, just call me by name."

"You do not accept me?" Shadow's ears wilted slightly.

"Accept you?" Hong Zhao was rightfully confused. "Accept you for what?"

"You are my master." Shadow said matter of factly.

"For now, I suppose just call me master." Hong Zhao decided, then looked up to the ceiling. "Though it would be nice for an explanation as to what I am agreeing to." His eyes narrowed as he made it obvious that he was talking to Lan.

"What would you wish me to do, master?" Shadow stood up and looked at Hong Zhao expectantly.

Rolling his eyes, Hong Zhao looked around the cavern. His eyes landed on the remains of Zi Bai. Walking over to the rubble, he took the beast core out of the mess and brushed it off. He then walked it over to Shadow and dropped it into awkward hands. "Are you sure, master?" Shadow's eyes lit up even brighter as he looked at the beast core. "This is a Third Star Desciple Ranked beast core. It could break you through to your next rank if consumed."

Hong Zhao's mouth opened and closed multiple times. He couldn't figure out what exactly to say. He could increase his cultivation by leaps and bounds just by taking one beast core. If he took it with a Qi Stone and Qi Grasping Pill, he might even jump to half-step Ninth Star Student Rank. Looking greedily at the beast core, his eyes then turned solemn. "I could not have defeated Zi Bai without your help, Shadow." He smiled warmly as he came to terms with his choice. "You actually did most of the work. If you didn't break open his armor, my Qi Explosion wouldn't have even worked." He thought to the rank of the magical beast they had just defeated. How deep was the gash that Shadow had given Zi Bai to allow such an attack to work? "What rank are you now, anyway?" He realized he couldn't sense the level his friend had attained within such a long time since they had seen each other.

"I am Second Star Disciple Rank," Shadow held up the beast core to his mouth with a smile. "With this, I will break through to the third." His eyes went dreamy for a moment as he looked at the core, then pleading as they looked at Hong Zhao.

"Go ahead." Hong Zhao smiled. "I will watch over you while you cultivate." He then thought about that for a moment. "You do cultivate, don't you?"

"Magical Beasts cultivate Qi into their beast cores." Shadow nodded as he took the beast core and swallowed it whole. "Thank you, Master." He sat back on the perch and went into a lotus position. After some time, Hong Zhao could see Qi from the area funnel directly into Shadow's forehead.

"They don't have to condense the Qi?" Hong Zhao thought of the process human cultivators had to go through. Then he remembered hearing that fierce beasts usually gain qi just by living, so he could only imagine the process that a magical beast went through or just how long it would take for one such as Shadow to break through to the next rank.

Hong Zhao resigned himself to waiting for as long as he needed for Shadow to break through. As he waited, his eyes went back to the rubble that was Zi Bai. "Waste not, want not." He smiled as he walked over to the broken body and put it in his ring. After he did, he activated Eagle Vision and allowed his eyes to sweep the cavern.

With all of Zi Bai's Qi Blast attacks, the cavern was in shambles. Rubble surrounded the walls, and he could see large blast holes in the wall. As his eyes scanned the area, he could see the Qi that was racing towards Shadow. It was slightly unnerving seeing the glowing energy funnel like a tornado straight towards his friend's forehead versus the Qi cloud that normally forms above human cultivators. As he stared, he saw a glint of metal through rubble on the far side of the cavern. He didn't see it before, but it looked like a small room without a door that collapsed due to a Qi blast that had caught the structure.

Hong Zhao walked over to the broken structure and looked down to see medium sized jewelry box. When he opened it, silver glinted within his Eagle Vision. Cancelling out the ability, he saw three different storage rings within. Looking around, Hong Zhao didn't see anything else noteworthy except a large excess of bones within the collapsed area.

"He said that I was the first human to see a magical beast in the last few thousand years." He remembered Zi Bai bragging. "If that's true, he must have had the other stone lions bringing him cultivators or other beasts in order to raise his rank enough to make the change."

Hong Zhao took the first of the three storage rings and pricked his finger, putting a drop of blood onto it. He then inserted Qi into the ring and checked what was on the inside. His eyes grew wide as he saw the vast treasure that was within just the one ring. A thousand gold seemed to stare up at him through the ring, as if saying hello to its new master. There was also another storage ring within the ring itself. Hong Zhao knew then that this treasure was not simple, and he would have to wait until later to unravel it all.

Hong Zhao unceremoniously pricked his finger and spread a drop of Qi on each ring, cementing his ownership then put them into his own ring. After checking over the opening for anything else, he sat facing Shadow and began cultivating.